The Kevin Sheehan Show - Thom's Prediction Gumbo

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Kevin and Thom today with Thom making his NFC Championship/Washington-Philly prediction. Lots of discussion, analysis, and more on Commanders-Eagles including which of the two teams would be in bigger trouble if they fall behind and whether or not this is the beginning of the next great NFC East rivalry. Where does Dan Quinn rank already on the list of Washington Head Coaches and what's Dan Snyder thinking about all of this.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Window Nation 86690 Nation or WindowNation.

Or Window Nation.com if you need new windows. It is now Thursday during championship week. And Reed writes, Kevin, do you think Tommy will give thought to his prediction on the Washington game this weekend, or will he just wing it when you ask him for it? Good question, Reed, because that's what he does every week. He's caught off guard every week. Listen, winging it has gotten me to this point in my life, okay? Winging it, I've flown on the wings of winging it most of my life.

I'm not going to stop now. So I'll be winging it once again. And the past couple weeks, I think winging it has been pretty work. Worked pretty well for me. Yeah, I guess you got last year 2 and O in the postseason. Yeah. You had them against Tampa. You had them against Detroit on Saturday night.

You are occasionally effective when you wing it. Do you ever wing your columns? Do you ever just sit down 30 minutes before the editors expecting it and just start writing and see if something comes to you? Oh, I do that. I do it often when I sit down and I don't really know what I'm going to write, so I write something and then the words just pour out. Sometimes they make sense. Sometimes they even make sense.

I live my life by two basic rules. Be flexible and have low expectations. Yeah, the low expectations thing. I think, you know, one of these days I'm going to just, give you what your life could have been had you set higher expectations for yourself because you're capable. You're capable of a lot more. You know, there are some days when, you know, I come in here to do three hours of radio and then just to do this podcast every day where, you know, you're not as prepared as you'd like to be. And you do end up winging.

some of it. But it's harder to do this that way. And what I mean by this is that there's nothing in our line of work that can be more challenging than hosting a show by yourself for three hours every day. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm not trying to say that, you know, what we've done both individually together. I mean, you need somebody in the studio with you to make it easy. If you're by yourself, it's exponentially harder. And it also just requires you to be so much more prepared. Well, I got to tell you. Yeah. I got to tell you, like you just said, you're absolutely right about going solo versus having a partner. And I've been lucky to have a great partner on this podcast and the radio over the years and other good partners as well. I've always been blessed

with good partners that didn't have a problem or if they did, they shut up about it, doing most of the work. You know what? And you know this, that over the years, no matter who my partner was, and you were my partner for the longest period of time by far. But I always was the person that kind of was the organizer, if you were. will and did a lot of the, you know, preparation and planning, et cetera. And I've never minded that at all. But thank God I always had good partners. Of course, starting with you for seven and a half, you know, eight years.

And I had Cooley for nearly three years. I had Rigo as a partner for two years way back in the day. But that was so much fun. I worked with Doc for two years. which was so much fun. And I'll tell you, you know, it's a miserable existence if you're not working with somebody

that you're compatible with and that you get along with. I mean, I've known shows where the two people were excellent together and didn't necessarily get along. I don't think that's necessarily the end-all-be-all, but you've got to be compatible. You've got to have chemistry

because it's not just the three hours of doing a show five days a week. you're with that person several hours beyond that every day, five days a week. You know, before the show, after the show, on the phone together. So, yeah, it's a partnership, but it's much easier when you do it that way. I mean, I've always managed to have to work well with the people I work with because they were easy to work with. And they were smart people. we've heard, we've listened to bad combinations of the radio haven't we?

Yes, we have for sure. How did we get sidetracked here? Oh, Reed's email. Reed wants to know if you're going to wing this prediction today or if you've actually given it some thought, given the significance of this prediction. It's the latest prediction you've ever made. for a game involving Washington.

So which is it? Are you going to wing it when we get to it, or are you going to present us with a well-thought-out analysis of the game along with the prediction? Well, I'm winging it. Although, look, there's a lot of obvious things in thinking this, what's going to happen on Sunday, what the commanders have to do. There's some absolutes, I think. And we talked about this a little bit on Tuesday.

but we can talk about it again now. You've got to figure out how to deal with Jalen Carter. You've got to figure out how to stop Sequin Barquay. I mean, those are the two absolutes, and you can't turn a ball over. I mean, it's not rocket science. No, it's not. And this time of year, if you just wanted to fast forward to Monday and look at a box score of the game if you hadn't watched it,

you just go right to turnover margin. and the team that had the most turnovers more likely than not lost the game. You know, one thing I was thinking about today and I was talking to Denton on radio about is I think this game is a game in which if Washington gets a lead, I'm going to feel really good about it. I don't think Philadelphia can come back. I think Washington could come back from, say, a double-digit deficit, but I don't think Philadelphia can come back.

I just view them differently on offense than Detroit and Tampa Bay. You know, I thought that the Lions down 38, 28, 28 or 31 to 21 could absolutely come back and score two or three touchdowns to take the lead and maybe even extend the lead. You know, I would have guessed if Tampa was down 10, let's just say, that they were capable of coming back. But in this game Sunday, if Washington gets a 17 to 7 or 21 to 10 kind of a lead, I'm going to feel really good about it. I think the odds of them extending the lead from there would be much greater than Philadelphia roaring back and winning the game. But if Washington were down, I would not feel like they were out of it. I just think Washington's so much better offensively,

and they're so capable of being great offensively, even if they sputter a little bit and get behind. Yeah, I mean, I thought the Lions could have come back, but the Eagles, I don't think they can. I mean, I think they can. You do? I'll tell you why. I don't think we should diminish.

I mean, everyone is really downplaying Jalen hurts, you know, because he's hurt. He has it looked particularly good. But I remember, A.J. Brown took apart Marshawn Lattimore the last time they played. Yeah. You know? Yeah, with Kenney-Brickett.

Right, but it's a home run hitter. Okay? And let's say Barclay is like the long touchdown pass running the ball. Barkley scores touchdowns of 60 yards at a clip. Okay? So I think Philly is capable of coming back if they're down by two scores at some point in the second half. So I don't necessarily agree with you about that. I think they've got two very explosive offensive weapons, and it's up to Kellyn Moore,

just like it's up to Kingsbury to figure out how to get them the ball. Yeah, I don't – I know what you're saying, and I wonder if we are selling Jalen Hertz. short. I think part of it has to do with the injury for me, but I think I would have felt this way anyway heading into this game. And I'm a Jalen Hertz guy. I've always been a Jalen Hertz guy, but there are games when you watch him this year and you're like, something's not right. And it just doesn't look right. And I don't have confidence in Jalen Hertz. I don't. And what you're saying about Sequin Barclay is true. It's 100% true.

But you don't come back from two scores down that way. You get up two scores by busting one for 68 yards, and then the next time busting it for 72. You typically don't come back that way. You typically don't, but he's a very unique back. And if you're down to scores, the defense is probably going to defend and attack as if you're going to probably throw the ball likely, which I think, you know, opens up more chances for Barclay to score on the ground.

Let me ask you this. What if hurts is so, if they're, what if they're visibly struggling so much with hurts a quarterback in the game and they're down? Do you think they would make the move to bring in ticket? Is he healthy from the ribs? I think if it's really obvious that he's struggling to be a part of the run game, in particular, and then he's not able to, you know, for Philly to be successful Sunday, and look, they're playing a much easier defensive team than they've faced in the first two

playoff games, Green Bay in particular, and then the Rams game, you know, with the snow, who the hell knows. But if they don't have him involved in the run game, they are going to have a hard time getting to what they like to get to, which is third and three, third and two. You know, good down and distance, which, by the way, they run the football a lot on third and three and third and four because they know that even if they're short, they're going to, you know, they're a four-down team too. But if they're struggling to run it and then they need to throw it and he's not seeing it and he's getting sacked, he took a safety last week that was so ugly to watch.

Oh, it's terrible. And if he looks like that, you have to go to Pickett, right? It's the NFC championship game. There's no tomorrow. No, I think you have to. Absolutely. So I think if Philly does wind up down, I think there's a chance you could see Pickett. That's not necessarily good news for Philly fans.

I think it played well the last time they played Washington. but you don't think of him as a guy who can lead you back from being down in an NFC championship game. I'll tell you what Kenny Pickett is, though. Kenny Pickett's a gunslinger. Like he is not afraid, and he'll let it rip. He can throw it. He's just not, you know, hasn't been so far as a very young pro. He's just not a guy that sees it and processes it super quickly.

So in some ways, in some ways I kind of feel like Kenny Pickett would be interesting. Yeah. Yeah, he would. But I think that, I think you're going to see, look, normally, I don't know how hurt, how injured hurts is. He didn't look, he hasn't looked healthy. You know, why has looked healthy since he left the game against Washington? serious, to be honest with the concussion. But that's not his problem right now.

I think it's a hip problem, right? That's his knee. His knee. Yeah, his knee. I mean, his knee got twisted back. Yeah. Yeah. So.

But normally, I think you'd see a game in this game. I think you'd see both quarterbacks run the shit at a ball. I think you're going to see Jayden run a lot against to fill the defense to try to relieve the pressure that he's going to face. Well, he's got 29 rushing attempts in two playoff games, so I don't think there's any doubt he's going to do whatever it takes to win and advance. Yeah, you know, the thing about the Eagles is they are very unique defensively for any year. They're the best defensive team in the league, but it's just rare in this day.

and age where you don't have to manufacture pass rush if you don't want to because your front four is good enough to get home and you don't have to load a box to stop the run because your front seven is good enough to do it. Sometimes just six players are enough for them to be effective in that front. They're very good defensively and Washington has struggled against teams with interior pass rush and you know you mentioned Jalen Carter and yeah, that's a very good defensively. an issue, especially with Sam Cosmi out, and we'll see how they decide to handle his absence. It may be that Wiley moves inside, and Cornelius Lucas replaces Wiley. At right tackle, we'll see.

But Philadelphia is really good and very well coached on defense. What do you think about my prediction that Jane is going to be much more of a runner than he's been of late? not much more, but I think you'll see him take off more. I think you're going to be spot on. I think it starts with just the mindset he has right now, which is he's not losing. You know, he is totally prepared to strap the team to his back again like he has in the first two games and carry them into the next round, which would be the Super Bowl, of course. He's got 29 rushing attempts in two playoff games. are the most rushing attempts in a two-game period all season long.

So I think he's in that mindset right now. I also agree with you, though. I think, you know, especially with their injury situation, but more so because Philadelphia is just that good, they'll get pressure on him, and he'll have to create off schedule. You know, Dallas got a lot of pressure on him in those two games, and you saw him, you know, try to make plays with his legs in that game. Dallas game at home when he was sacked four times and pressured repeatedly up the middle. Mike Parsons kind of lining up over, you know, the weakest link.

He rushed, you know, seven times for 74 yards in that game. And in the Philadelphia game, in December, nine carries 81 yards. Man, I forgot that he had had 16 carries for 127 yards against the Falcons. I mean, this guy is just doing whatever it takes to get a win. And he knows that their best chance of winning is with the ball in his hands as a thrower, but also as a runner. So far, that's been the case. On this run that they've had, so far that has been the case. Now, let's talk about coaching for a minute.

You talk about how great Fangio is, so they're going up against maybe the best defensive coordinator. It's football to do that. Defensively, it's not a team strength, but, you know, I don't think the Philly offense is very well coached. I don't think they're very well coached with the unit. I mean, that's basically been the narrative this year. That Nick Siriani is kind of a dope. Yeah, except. everybody you hear from in Philadelphia says that everybody in the organization and the players in

particular love him. So he must be good at something. He must be a great motivator. He must be a really good communications guy, relationship guy, manager. I don't know. But look, coaching staff versus coaching staff. I'm taking Quinn and his staff over Siriani and his. But what is his record now? I mean, my God. I mean, Yeah, yeah, I know. The guy is, right now, after four years, he's 48 and 20. Yeah.

He's been to a Super Bowl, and he's lost twice in wild card games. And last year was obviously a massive implosion at the end of the year, but they bounce back, 14 and 3. You know, they want two playoff games, so, you know, here they are. Somebody wrote me something this morning, and I don't have it in front of me, But it was essentially, you know, you talk about it's quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, well, what is anybody worried about? Jaden Daniels is easily the best quarterback in this game.

Yes, he is. But there have been quarterbacks that have lost in this round to lesser quarterbacks. Aaron Rogers lost a few years ago to Jimmy Garapolo. I wrote a bunch of these down earlier. There's like, you know, the year that Peyton Manning won it with. Denver. He was not Peyton Manning, really, at that point. And they beat Brady in the AFC championship game. You got a bunch of those examples out there. So it happens. It's not a, you know, it's not a hard and fast rule. It's just one that typically you would lean in the direction

of the team that's got the best quarterback. And I think also the team that's got the better coach. I feel like Washington's going into this game with the best coach, head coach, and the best quarterback. But they don't have the best defense. They do not have the best defense. And they don't have the best running game. And, you know, there's another way to get to a Super Bowl, and that is run the ball and play great defense. That, you know, there are a lot of ways to skin a cat,

a Super Bowl appearance cat. And that has been one of them over the years. Look at the 49ers. You know, run the football, play great defense. The Eagles, they run the football, they play great defense. So there is that way. But man, they are playing a great offense on Sunday. Any other questions?

Is you're preparing your prediction? Well, I'm preparing, I'm doing some research as we speak. Yeah, that's because you're winging it. Right. Yeah. Well, no, no, that's not true. I mean, you bring up certain things in a conversation that spark a different, you know, avenue of thought. Good point.

Okay. A good podcast host or radio host listens to the conversation they're having with the other person. Right. Okay. Yeah. There's a lot of people that don't do that. I didn't recall off the top of my head that Echler did not play in the last silly game, right? He did not. That is correct.

See, that's a big one. I mean, it was clear, you know, this past weekend, what a valuable offensive weapon he was. At the beginning of the year, we saw what a valuable offensive weapon he was. And he was not available in that Philly game that they won. Exactly. Exactly. And I think they missed Echler a lot, but clearly they didn't miss him in that game. down the stretch.

No. Yes. No. So you were looking up to see if Echler played in the last game. Yeah, I didn't think he did. I was just double-checking to make. I'm trying to limit. You see, one of my goals this year is to limit my mistakes,

because they happen so rare. I think if I can limit them, I might be able to eliminate them. Yes. Totally. Yes. Okay. Are we ready for your prediction? Sure. Why not?

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Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will give you a 50% cash bonus when you sign up. Right now, Washington remains a six-point underdog with the total at 48, to which Chris writes, the six and a half point spread is a complete joke. On a neutral playing field, we should be the favorite at the moment. Not only do we have the quarterback who's playing superior football, Hertz is two weeks off a concussion and playing with a banged up knee. The last time we faced Philly, we turned the ball over five times and still put up 36 points and won the game. The spread should be at three max.

What am I missing here? I kind of agree with that. By the way, that was not from Chris. That was from Dan. I've got something I'm going to read from Chris. That was from Dan. First of all, it's not six and a half. I don't see six and a halves anywhere.

I see sixes everywhere. I am surprised it's that high with Jalen Hertz's potential, you know, limitations. Now, maybe, you know, some sharp better. know that Jalen Hertz is not going to be limited. This would indicate that Philly would be a three-point favorite on a neutral field. I don't know if they, you know, would be even on a neutral field, but I don't think Philadelphia should be a three-point favorite on a neutral field. I think it should be more like one or two.

I think I thought this line would be initially higher than it turned out to be, but that was before Saturday night. And then I was thinking, and then on Sunday, and then I was thinking this thing's going to be less than a touchdown and maybe significantly less than a touchdown. I look at it, I think there's value in Washington. The public is playing Washington more so than playing Philadelphia, so I don't know if I'm going to give Washington out as a smell test pick on tomorrow's show,

but if you told me I just have to bet it based on analyzing the game and not any, you know, pre-disposed feelings about, you know, betting and public betting. And I play Washington on the money line in this game. I think they're going to win. That why? I think they're going to win, too. The money line...

Yeah, you're right. The money line prices plus 234 at MyBooky. There are so many prop bets on this game. Go to MyBooky.orgie.org. and again use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. All right, before we get to Tom's prediction, I want to read this from Chris. Chris writes, Kevin, my brother texted me the following

after the skins win on Saturday night. Quote, right now somewhere, Dan Snyder is drinking alone in a darkened room, closed quote. And then he writes, perfect. I've gotten a lot of, you know, emails and tweets, And one of the reasons is Cooley and I had this conversation the other day. And I said, well, what do you think he's doing? You're the one that knows him.

And he said, ah, he's probably, you know, and he started to say that he's probably enjoying it. I'm like, no, he's not enjoying it. And he eventually was like, yeah, he's probably not enjoying this. There's no chance that Dan Snyder is enjoying this. And he knows about it. The question is, do you think that he's following it, paying attention to it, watching it? I think he's aware of it.

I don't know if he's watching it or not. Probably not. But I think he's probably very, obviously very aware of it. And as much as we like to think that he is suffering as a result, you know, this is a guy who manufactured his own little universe in his world, in his brain. Okay. and he has likely come up with a scenario that he absolutely believes in that the NFL screwed him over from being successful, that they put roadblocks in front of him at different paths of his ownership to stop him from having this success that you're seeing now.

There are other people that he is blaming for stopping him from doing exactly, what's going on right now. You know, it was never his fault, and it's still not his fault. And there's scenarios he's come up with that say, hey, you know, if Goodell didn't do this to me, you know, if Jerry didn't do this to me, I'd be right there where this team is now. I'm sure he's probably worked that out in his mind. I totally agree with everything you said. However, these results are so shocking.

that I wonder whether or not somebody like his wife, Tanya, might be able to sit down with him and at the very least just say, you did the right thing. You did the right thing. I mean, it really is just shocking that a year and a half after selling the team, the results are this. Yes, it's such a dramatic, dramatic in such a short amount of time. Look, I think last I read that his yacht is docked somewhere in the Netherlands.

So I think they have stuff in the Netherlands. You're following his yacht locations? Well, you know, there used to be an X account. Yeah, I remember that. Yes, yes. Well, I think that they just took another, they don't follow it anymore, but they managed recently just to take another look, just to see where he is, just for the hell of it. I think he's in the Netherlands.

And I think they felt stuff in the Netherlands. The Netherlands. But basically help you come up with any scenario you want in your head. Yeah, I guess. Am I right? I don't know. Yes. He's not, he and his, look, I'm sure there's a voice somewhere inside him,

which is one of the reasons why he's such a hateful. so be, is that he recognizes what the truth is. But he keeps that voice suppressed. I don't think that's changed. There are plenty of places in Amsterdam that you can go and hang out in and kind of lose yourself. Yeah. You know, that's what all that money's for. Yeah. I'd say, I'd say, find a good, when you have that kind of money. Find a good coffee shop in Amsterdam, Dan. That would be good for you. All right. Time for your prediction. Oh, I have a question for you. My question for you is, if they were to go on and win the Super Bowl, this is the most unbelievable turnaround story in NFL history. This is right there with the 99 Rams. The 99 Rams the year before were 4 and 12th. They lost their starting quarterback in the preseason, Trent Green, in a preseason game. Nobody had a clue that the Rams would be, you know, in contention. They had one of the lowest over-unders to start the season.

Washington did too. Their over-under wasn't the lowest this year. There were like four or five teams with a lower number. Theirs was six and a half. But four and thirteen to winning a Super Bowl with a rookie quarterback, you know, that's all-time turnaround in the NFL. Give me a sport in which you could point to and say, this team that was this bad came back to next year and won the whole thing. Well, for me, the greatest one ever are the 69 miracle met.

You know, going from last place to winning the World Series. Okay. And not that's winning the World Series, beating a team that had won 109 games that year in the Baltimore Orioles. So, I mean, the miracle Mets are the standard to go by. These are not the Miracle Mets, but for the NFL, they are the miracle commanders. They absolutely are. You know, I mean, you're right. In the NFL, this is the greatest from the basement to the penthouse that we've seen.

I mean. And it's different from the Rams. Yes. Because you have the drama of, the old ownership and the new ownership cut the old storyline

and how quickly that impacted how quick that was an impact you know that that's a different story than what happened with the Rams I think so I think I think we just talked about Dan Snyder part of this success story

part of the miracle story the other Cinderella story is Cinderella story is Cinderella got some new sisters. You know? You got rid of her old sisters. They got some new sisters. And they say, hey, go to the bowl and have a party.

The story of the 2024 Redskinned commanders can't be told without Dan Snyder being a big part of it. And to your point, I mean, they had Dick Vermeel. He was in his second or third year. You know, they didn't change general managers. they didn't change. Coaches, they didn't change basically half of a roster. I mean, think about it. They had two-thirds of their starters on opening day were new.

You know, they had an entire new coaching staff. They had a rookie quarterback. The whole thing, if they get there and win it, will be one of the all-time greatest turnaround, unexpected stories in sports history. Yes. I mean, how much of the Mets of the 69 Mets were similar to the 68 Mets? Well, they had, look, the pitching staff was the same,

but it was a much younger pitching staff. But they had made a couple of key trades in 69 to basically change the direction. But they had a young pitching staff in Sever and Kuzman and Gary Gentry that really came into, like, Theaver won 16 games in 68. He won 25 and 69. You know, he was a Cy Young winner. So they had some, they had like, like their young quarterback took until the third season to be among the best in the league, unlike Washington, where their young quarterback is

already among the best in the league. Yeah. All right. It's got to happen first, although it's not. not a bad book if they just get to the Super Bowl. You know, it's still a pretty good story if they just get there. But if they get there and win it, it's all time. You know what, though, Tommy, if they lose Sunday,

it's for us, there's going to be a ton of carryover, a lot of carryover. Did I share this with you the other day? I forget if I've mentioned this on the podcast or not. I don't think I have. that the television numbers for the season were exceptionally low compared to what you might think they were. Did I tell you that? No, no, we didn't talk, but I've read that. I've seen that.

The Washington ranked in terms of local TV numbers this season, regular season, I haven't seen the playoff numbers locally. They were 21st in the league. They averaged a 14 rating. That's not good. it's not good at all. It's shocking to me that it wasn't much higher than that. I don't know what it says.

Just like, to be honest with you, the NCAA championship the other night, the college football playoff championship, got a pretty low number. Now, low for college football comparatively. It was the inauguration day. It was MLK day. There was lots of weather.

There's, you know, NFL football. It kind of got lost. but it's still, you had Ohio State Notre Dame. I mean, that should have been the premium matchup for, you know, a network. But I can't explain that. I did suggest to you at one point during the year, are we just in a bubble right now, and the bubble's just gotten a little bit bigger this year?

Or is this thing really catching fire? Remember, they didn't sell out the majority of their games this year. Right, absolutely. But I would think that the playoff game against Tampa did a big number, and I'd be shocked if the playoff game against Detroit didn't do a massive number. Well, I mean, the obvious answer, without any research, is it illustrates the damage that was done over the past 25 years still, even with like the greatest story ever told, you know, people, you know, had tuned out and are not, you know, not paying attention yet. Yeah.

I mean, that seems to be the obvious answer. Yeah. It's evidence of the damage that's been done for decades. Yeah, it's that in the name, you know, but part of the damage is the name. Yes. So, but I would bet you any. amount of money that those that were even, I mean, I've had a bunch of people reach out and say, I wasn't going to do this.

I was out, but they're too much fun to watch. He's too much fun to watch. And somebody wrote me earlier and just said, and it's such a likable team, which it is. There you go. There you go. It's not just that they're fun, but they're very likable. Well, the coach is extremely likable. The quarterback is likable.

Guys like Bobby Wagner and, you know, Terry McClure, this is a likable group. Yeah. You know? I mean, you don't have to hold your nose while you're cheering for them. Just the opposite. All right. I think it's time for the prediction.

Hit us with it. Come up with something. Okay. Okay. I'll wing it here and say Washington wins 30 to 27. and since I already brought up his name as the footnote, Austin Echler, has 150 yards rushing and receiving. Whoa! That's a big game from Austin Echler. Yes, it is. He's going to be a big, big fat.

The Washington offense will be him on the ground. A lot of it will be him and Jaden Daniel. 30 to 27, Echler with 150 combined yards. look, Echler was great on Saturday night. He's such a huge part of them when they are truly unstoppable. And it's good to have them back. That's a Super Bowl prediction. I got to say, I feel for the guy. Oh, I know.

Yeah, hopefully he's fine. Yeah, hopefully he's okay. Yeah. Hopefully he's fine after he combines for 150 yards in a 30 to 27 Washington win in Philly. All right, we got more on the show today, and we'll get to it right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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Okay. Shelly's backroom at 1331 F Street Northwest is maybe the premier cigar bar on the East Coast. You know, I travel the East Coast a few times, but I can tell you, you can't find any place like Shelly's. It's a great place to watch, watch. and commanders playoff football because it's a place that you can go and light up a victory cigar after a commander's win. And so far, you would have

had to light up 14 victory cigars this year to do that. Yes. So now it's time to dig into your pocket. You need to start planning ahead for Sunday and then for two weeks for the Super Bowl. You need to up your game when it comes to a victory cigar. Reach into your wallet and spend

some money. You know, they have a great menu of cigars here. So for the NFC championship game, let me suggest the Davidov, Adversario, Series Double R. That's a $60 cigar. Wow. Yeah. That's time. That's a pricey recommendation for you. Yes. Okay. So when you're lighting up your victory cigar, don't go cheap in an NFC championship game. that hasn't happened since 1991. Go big, go rich, or go home. And if you want to really get nuts, okay, according to their cigar menu, they have something, and I don't even know what this is,

but it's on the menu. This is your Super Bowl choice because you're going to buy more than one cigar for a Super Bowl. You're going to pass them out to your friends once they win the Super Bowl championship. You're going to get the opus. six. It's a set of six within a humidor. Okay? What's that cost? They're not sold individually, sold only as a set.

Is that 60 times six? Or is that 100 times six? No, it's $400 for that. $400. Okay. Okay. So you and your party can smoke Super Bowl cigars on Super Bowl Sunday with a Super Bowl win. You can't do this anyplace else, okay?

You can't do it anyplace else and enjoy the atmosphere that Shelley's Backroom has. Find out more at shelley's backroom.com. By the way, I did not ask you for the Super Bowl opponent for Washington after they beat Philadelphia 30 to 27. Buffalo or Kansas City? I mean, I don't pick against the champ. Matt Mahomes is a multiple champion. I'm going with the Chiefs. Probably a 25-20 ugly game against the bill.

2520 doesn't sound that ugly. Sounds competitive. Well, I mean, it can be competitively ugly. How's that? Okay. I like that. How are you doing down there real quickly down in Miramar Beach? You sent pictures to me of the snowstorm you got the other day. How many inches did you guys get? We got four inches here on the beach. Oh, my God. Seriously?

They've never seen anything like this before. just inland, maybe about 10 miles. They got 10 inches. Oh, my God. You got 4 inches in the panhandle of Florida on the beach? Yes, on the beach. I'll send a picture later. There's a snowman right outside our window that somebody built on the beach.

How did they handle it down there? Well, they just basically shut down everything. like Interstate 10, you know, the main thoroughfare that runs across the panhandle was shut down for probably 12 hours. Just closed. Everything was closed. You know, grocery stores closed, bars, we were lucky. We went out last night, and we found a nice Italian restaurant because an Italian restaurant will always be open. True.

True. But every, yeah, but every place else was closed there. And today it's like 44 degrees right now with a warm sun. So the stuff is just melting. And tomorrow is supposed to be 47 or 48 degrees. So it'll be gone soon. But it was an unprecedented event for this area. And we were just on lockdown.

You know, it's like the whole panhandle was on lockdown. Real quickly. New Orleans got. Oh, I know. Look, I was watching the Weather Channel, New Orleans. I mean, it's historic. the storm that hit the south the other day. But, you know, when you're talking about you're right there on the Gulf of Mexico

and you are on the beach, I mean, did it stick to the sand? Yes. It really, did it stick to the roads. What was the temperature when the snow was falling? Oh, it was cold. I mean, last night there was a low of 17 degrees. Oh, my God. So there's no snow removal equipment, right?

No. No, there's no. There's no snow removal. I was watching the guy this morning outside the window, try to shovel a path to the pool, to the heated pool, which was totally shut off, too. And it was kind of funny to watch them. You could tell he never shoveled snow. Yeah. Well, I mean, you got a lot of snowbirds down there, right? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. There are. So they know how to know. They're here to avoid this. Right. My God. That's crazy. All right. Real quickly, just want to mention that I will have my Friday football show out tomorrow. Jay Gruden will be a part of that. I'll have smell test picks. Yes, I said picks for the two championship games, have my keys and a prediction myself on the NFC title game in Philly. But I'm also going to put out another show over the weekend.

and that one will include, at the very least, Tim Legler, who Tommy, I got together with last night. He was in town. He was supposed to do Scott Sports Center following the NBA game that ABC, that ESPN had on last night. And they didn't tell him that Scott wasn't working last night. So he was in town. He couldn't get a flight back out. And so he texted me and he said, what are you doing? You want to come down and meet me for a beer and a burger somewhere.

So I did that. We had a good time. Tim's such a great dude. And he is a massive, as most of you know, Skins fan. Yes. And he is so pumped, so excited. We obviously talked a lot about that. But he's going to be on the show that I put out over the weekend.

And another special guest or two will join me. So I'll have the show tomorrow and then I'll have the show on Saturday slash Sunday. You just give and give and give. No. No, it's called taking advantage of an opportunity. There seems to be a lot of interest in the team right now and this podcast. And I think a lot of people right now are benefiting from 14 wins. But, you know, he's got a lot of Philadelphia people in his family.

You know, he, I mean, he's lived in South Jersey. Jersey for many years now. His wife is from that area as well. But he's got to deal with that. He's been watching the Eagles be great for this century. They've been the best team in the NFC East during the last 24 years, and he's had to deal with that. Now there's the possibility of his team going into Philly and beating the Eagles,

which would be exciting. Speaking of that, I got this from Dave. Dave writes, and Dave's, by the way, writing us from Sacramento. We're getting a lot of new listeners, a lot of new people corresponding with us. Winning is good for everybody. Remember the conversations we would have about, you know, with people that would say, oh, you guys love this. No, we don't love this.

Winning would be so much better. Dave writes, Kevin, I'm. so excited Washington's playing Philadelphia for the championship. Not because I like specific matchups or think we have a better shot than a Rams game. It's because this could be the start of a real rivalry. Every team hates their division opponents, but real rivalries are formed in the playoffs over the years. The Chiefs and Bills have this now, the Pats and Colts, the Niners and Cowboys, to name a few. This is what history remembers.

rivalries over the decades. And now Washington has a chance to start a new rivalry with the Eagles. I'm hoping that this will be the first in a series of playoff matchups versus the Eagles. And maybe if the stars align, it will be hosted by the Washington. And then he writes insert name here at the new RFK. Curious what your thoughts are on the idea of this being a potential new rivalry. And that aspect of this game, as we look ahead. Dave, thank you for that. And I've talked about this.

And this is one of the benefits you get from being good, you know, and being good over a period of time. Now, it hasn't happened over a period of time yet. But before that first Philadelphia game, Tommy and I were talking about, you know, could this be the first of three this year? You know, and if it is the first of three, and Washington's got Jaden Daniels and Philadelphia looks set for, years to come. This is how, you know, you get a real rivalry going. And Philly's had it with Dallas and they've had it with the Giants and the Giants have

had it with the Cowboys, but we've been faking it for a long time now. It's been one-sided and it's really been kind of, we've been trying too hard. You know, we lost that. That's one of the things we lost during the Snyder years. We lost

the fun, the intensity, the emotion, of being involved as a fan in a real rivalry. I grew up with it. I had it for the first many, many years of my life with the Cowboys and the Eagles and Giants, but the Cowboys thing was so special. It was so important. It was important to both teams, both teams fan bases,

both teams' media bases. And yeah, when you have three games, with a division rival. And you mentioned Chiefs, Bills, Pat's Colts, those are the rare ones that aren't divisional. And they happen. You know, I think the best rivalry

really of the last 15 plus years has been Ravens Steelers. But, yeah, this would be, that's one of the things you get from rooting for a team that, you know, has a period of winning. And you get those big games,

those important games, those games played on massive stages this time of year. And when you play in the playoffs, it's extra special and it adds to it. And then when you play in the championship game against a division rival, wow. You know, Washington's done that three, now four times. They played the Cowboys twice. They played the Giants. And now they are playing the Eagles in an NFC title game. It is definitely extra special and provide some extra juice to not only Sunday,

but the prospect of what is ahead in a potential big, budding rivalry between Philly and Washington. Now, people will say, well, they've always been rivals. But Philly's big rival for 30 years, 25 years, Dallas. Dallas's big rival, Philly. Okay. Washington didn't win enough. They weren't important enough to the other three division teams. Look, rivalries raise the passion level of a game.

And enjoyable sports, it should be passionate. Yeah. I mean, I hope that this is the beginning of something. All right. There was something you wanted to ask me. It was Dan Quinn related. What was it? Well, you know, I wondered, I mean, Dan Quinn,

He's getting a lot of well-deserved accolades for the job that he's done this season. And I wondered, even though he hasn't even been here a full year, where does he fit in among Washington football coaches, the history of football coaches with this franchise? And stunningly, he's pretty high on the list already. Well, you would think. You've written the books. You can speak to Otto Graham and Bill McKeek.

The joke is Ray Flaherty. I know people won't remember Waring Fliardi, but he won two NFL championships with this team. You know, and that they have those trophies, too. They count those as well. Right. And Dan Quinn.

No. I mean, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, George Allen. I'm sorry. George Allen's a second, but George Allen's number two. George Allen's number two, Ray Flerty, three, then Dan Quinn. Right? That was before it would have been Marty Schadenheimer maybe. I think Dan Quince ahead of Marty now. You know, because there were so fewer playoff teams back in 1969,

what Vince Lombardi did in 69, turning them completely around in one season. First winning season, what was it, in 20-something years? In the one Lombardi season? I mean, I would kind of equate Lombardi season to Dan Quinn's season right now. Now, if Dan Quinn goes on to win the Super Bowl, we can have a different conversation. Because then, you know, he is, he's climbed the list after one year because he's a champion. He is ahead of Marty, right? Oh, yeah.

It's painful for you to say. Oh, yeah. Of course. Okay. Marty, I mean, actually, the job Marty did with Tony Banks and Kent Graham a quarterback. I know, I know. You know, the job Marty did and where it was headed was incredible, but, you know, 8 and 8. All right, Quinn is, you know, he's got to win the championship game for that kind of, you know, lofty praise.

Right now he's Lombardi. 30 to 27 with Austin Echler going for a combined 150 yards. Tommy has nailed the first two picks. Let's hope he's right on the third. All right, enjoy the game, and you will be back with me on Tuesday, and we'll either, you know, at that point, have plans for the Super Bowl, or we'll be looking at free agency and what they need to do to get to the Super Bowl. next year.

All right. Good job today. New Orleans, baby. We're heading for New Orleans. You're a good listener today. I will talk to you on Tuesday. I'll see you.